Today we have an entrant for the first course of the Diced! competition. This round includes ingredients that are vegan friendly. Contestants were encouraged to add any additional ingredients they wished (even non-vegan ones). Contestants were instructed to create or find a recipe for an appetizer, soup or salad containing the following ingredients: Roasted Red Peppers, Puff Pastry, Sliced Almonds and Pears (their choice of variety). They were instructed to make their dish and create a blog post about it, including pictures. You can help determine who advances to the next round. After the last post, I will post a poll where you can vote for contestants to move on. Vote for the post you like the best. You can vote because of the inventiveness, the yummyness, the use of ingredients, the quality of the writing and pictures or for any other reason. The poll will be active for one week only. Check back and vote. In the event of a tie, the Ranting Chef will choose who advances. More information about Diced! can be found here.
Due to the generosity of the following companies, we have some really awesome products as a prize to the winner of this Diced! competition. The winner will receive:
- Zak – The winner receives their choice of a four piece setting or set of three serving bowls from their new Moso line. This is made from biodegradable bamboo and comes in a choice of four stylish colors. Look for a review of this product in the near future. Check them out here.
- Chobani – The leading brand in Greek Yogurt, the winner will receive a case of their choice of flavor of Greek yogurt. I’ve been using quite a bit of Chobani in my cooking lately and love it. Look for those recipes soon. Check out the selection at:Â http://chobani.com/products
- Microplane – Microplane will provide the winner with four items: Microplane Elite Series Fine Grater, Home Series Coarse Grater, Bartender’s Garnishing Tool, Cut-Resistant Glove. I recently reviewed these products here. Check out their products at their facebook page: www.facebook.com/microplane
- Youcopia – Maker of organization products, they would like to offer the winner a choice of a product from their web site. I recently reviewed the Bake Stack.
Today’s contestant, Brittany is one of the newest cooks on the block. She really just started cooking this year and blogs her recipes over at Wine, Cheese, and Workout Capris. Check out her posts and the entry below…
I’ll admit, when I received the list of ingredients for this first round of Diced I was perplexed. I could get on board with a combination of roasted red peppers, almonds, and puff pastry. But pears? That threw me off. I brainstormed and brainstormed and then it hit me: pinwheels! I love throwing together puff pastry pinwheels as a super easy and quick appetizer for a get together. Putting together the ingredients in a way that worked required a couple rounds of testing.
In my preliminary tests, I found that some combinations of flavors just didn’t work (like combining the roasted red peppers and the almonds alone was just blah). However, other flavor combinations were great (sautéed pears and almonds totally worked!). So after a bit of testing and tweaking here and there, I found my taste bud winner in Roasted Red Pepper Pinwheels with a Pear Glaze.
 Roasted Red Pepper Pinwheels with Pear Glaze
Ingredients:
Â
½ cup of sliced almonds
1 sheet of puff pastry
2 pears (chopped into small pieces)
¾ cup of roasted red peppers (chopped into small pieces)
½ cup of ricotta cheese (or hummus if you don’t wish to use cheese)
Handful of fresh baby spinach
5 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay out a sheet of wax or parchment paper down on a cookie sheet. Lightly flour the paper and lay the puff pastry sheet down onto the surface.
2. Slice the roasted red peppers into small pieces.
3. Spread the ricotta cheese onto the puff pastry sheet.
4. Lie out the spinach onto the pastry sheet and then sprinkle the roasted red pepper pieces on top of the spinach layer.
5. Roll the puff pastry sheet into a log. Slice the log into whatever sized pinwheels you prefer. Once the entire log is sliced, melt two tablespoons of the butter and brush onto the individual pinwheels. Place into the oven for 20 minutes.
6. While the pinwheels are baking, begin to prepare the pear glaze. In a saucepan, add 3 tablespoons of butter, the brown sugar, the pear pieces, and the sliced almonds.
7. Let the mixture sauté for about 10 minutes or until it starts to caramelize.
8. When the 20 minutes are up take the pinwheels out of the oven and let cool. Place onto a plate and spoon the pear/almond glaze onto the tops of the pinwheels.
Voila, enjoy!
I honestly thought this was going to be a dud. I mean, these flavors separately don’t innately go together. However, I was honestly so surprised at how tasty this was! I recruited my parents to try out the pinwheels and they also liked the appetizer a lot.
There’s something about the savory flavor of the roasted red peppers and the sweetness of the caramelized pear and almonds that totally works.
Altogether, it took about 35 minutes to make with prep and cook time – simple, quick, and tasty! I hope you enjoyed this recipe!
Brit is a freelance writer focusing on health and fitness in the DC area. She started her blog Wine, Cheese, and Workout Capris in early 2013 and this was the first time she ever started cooking! Since the start of her blog, Brit has begun to love to cook and learn new things in the kitchen and she hopes to continue her culinary education focused on incorporating healthy ingredients into meals.
Rantings of an Amateur Chef 
This looks amazing! Will definitely try it out! 🙂
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